The Federal Trade Commission is looking into streamers who may have violated their rules and regulations and could be facing action for non-compliance, according to Gamactica.

The FTC is specifically looking at streamers who have not handled advertisements and sponsorships properly, and according to the report, a crackdown could be on the horizon.

“There are a lot of legal issues with celebrity streamers” attorney Stephen McArthur said. “These streamers NEED to make advertisement disclosures via the FTC guidelines. They should always use #ad hashtags. But they often fail. For example, Nina was paid $1 million to stream Apex for one evening and never disclosed it pursuant to the FTC endorsement guidelines. The FTC has their eyes on streamers are will start cracking down harshly soon.”

With the amount of cash flowing in the rising streaming industry, the FTC is now taking notice and, soon, necessary action.

“Video game streamers are absolutely on the FTC’s radar right now. If a streamer is paid to play, then they must disclose that with an #ad or #sponsored hashtag in a conspicuous place during the stream. Sponsorships is interpreted broadly by the FTC. If you received a free Steam key to play a game for free, then that required the #ad hashtag.”

Let’s face it, there is a boatload of money up for grabs in the industry and mainstream streamer such as Ninja are raking in millions for their streaming efforts.

Now, the onus is on streamers to get their act together to protect their brand and comply with FTC rules and regulations.

“Compliance is easy. Get in the habit of using the “#ad” hashtag on photographs, streams. Tweets, etc. This is effective to avoid FTC liability, McArthur advises.

“If you’re ever not sure whether or not you should disclose something, the streamer should ask herself “Would the viewer want to know this?” If the answer is “yes”, then they should disclose it pursuant to FTC rules.”